President Bashar al-Assad increases military patrols along frontier to dissuade Turkey from intervening in domestic unrest Syrian officials have ordered military units to increase patrols near the restive Turkish border in what amounts to a warning to its increasingly irate northern neighbour not to establish a buffer zone inside Syria. Diplomats in Beirut and Ankara believe that the Syrian advance on the border village of Khirbet al-Jouz Thursday – initially portrayed by Damascus as a sweep to rout dissidents – was instead a veiled threat to Turkey, which is steadily turning on President Bashar al-Assad as his regime’s fierce crackdown on dissent continues. Following a speech last week by the besieged Syrian leader, Turkish officials gave Assad a week to begin reforms and stop the violent suppression of protests, in which more than 1,400 people are believed to have been killed in less than four months. At least another 18 died and dozens were wounded in fresh nationwide protests on Friday – a relatively low toll compared to the last few Fridays, which have been a weekly flashpoint in the uprising. However, the pattern of anti-government activists being attacked by armed members of the security forces remains the same, and is unlikely to convince Ankara that its former ally is committed to reform. British government officials travelled during the week to the southern Turkish border region to interview Syrians who have crossed the frontier to safety and are now living in refugee camps. A Foreign Office official told the Observer that diplomats were compiling accounts of what happened in the now abandoned border town of Jisr al-Shughour and the villages surrounding it during the first two weeks of June, when the Syrian army mounted a series of raids, followed by a full assault that led almost all of its 41,000 residents to flee, first for the nearby hills and then across to Turkey. Among the claims being investigated are persistent reports that Iranian soldiers had been operating with the Syrian forces. The European Union last week adopted sanctions against three key officers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, among them the highly secretive Major General Qassem Suleimani, the leader of its elite al-Quds force, who is widely regarded as the head of all Iran’s clandestine military missions abroad. A senior diplomat in Beirut on Friday said that intelligence agencies had established evidence that Iran had sent weapons and logistical support to Syria, but were yet to determine whether there had been Iranian troops on the ground taking part in the Syrian repression. In a further sign of Turkish unease with Damascus, officials from the country’s Red Crescent, which runs the five refugee camps along the border, no longer seem to be banned from talking to reporters. Concern that describing the accounts of refugees who have fled from violent assaults on northern Syrian villages may embarrass Syrian officials are clearly now less of a factor in Turkey’s estimation. Refugee accounts are being used to compile a referral to the international criminal court, which will be asked to prosecute Assad and key regime officials for crimes against humanity. The referral is being prepared by several rights groups, including Insan, an international organisation that is also compiling testimonies from a growing number of defecting Syrian soldiers. Turkey’s increasing diplomatic anger has made Istanbul an attractive hub for the Syrian opposition movement, which has received scores of defectors in recent weeks. Beirut, which is less than three hours’ drive from Damascus and offers easy access to Syrian citizens, is now considered too dangerous for anti-regime dissidents. “It is a clearing house only,” said one Syrian activist, who directs a network of dissidents across the border. “There are many ways that the regime can get to people here — they don’t even have to be here themselves. They just use their proxies.” At least 1,000 refugees crossed into Lebanon at the Wadi Khaled border point on Friday after an assault on the Syrian city of Homs, Lebanese officials reported. Among those were five men with gunshot wounds. A resident of the border village told the Observer that Syrian army units patrolling near by had opened fire towards the wounded as they tried to enter Lebanon. Syria Bashar Al-Assad Turkey Arab and Middle East unrest Martin Chulov guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media Republican Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s plan to test welfare recipients for drugs is costing the state money, despite his claims that the program would actually save tax dollars. A WFTV investigation found that out of the 40 recipients tested by Department of Central Florida’s (DCF) region, only two resulted in positive results. And one of those tests is being appealed. Under the rules of the program, the state must reimburse recipients who receive negative test results. The state paid about $1,140 for the 38 negative tests, while saving less than $240 a month by denying benefits over the two positive tests. “We have a diminishing amount of returns for our tax dollars,” the ACLU’s Derek Brett told WFTV. “Do we want our governor throwing our precious tax dollars into a program that has already been proven not to work?” The cost to taxpayers could end up being significantly higher because the state expects to have to defend the law in court.
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Libyan rebels claim regime is crumbling following flight of third senior official Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s regime appeared to be crumbling from within with the third defection of a senior member of his regime within days, which emerged as rebels pressed their advantage on the battlefield. According to Tunisia’s official news agency Abdel-Salam Jalloud – who helped propel Gaddafi to power in 1969 but had more recently fallen out with him – flew out of Djerba airport early yesterday. Rebels attempting to oust Gaddafi claimed Jalloud has defected.Jalloud’s flight follows the reported defection earlier this week of oil minister Omrane Boukraa and senior security official Nasser al-Mabrouk Abdullah, who fled to Cairo from Tunisia on Monday with his family. The latest defection – which was reported amid a swirl of rumours concerning the intentions of Gaddafi and his family – came as rebel forces continued operations on three fronts to cut off the capital Tripoli. In Zliten, a town formerly loyal to Gaddafi which was captured on Friday, rebels continued with street-to-street searches. The insurgents have also claimed the final capture of Brega, a town that has changed hands on a number of occasions. In Zawiya, the city 30 miles from Tripoli that earlier this year endured a long and bloody siege, Gaddafi’s forces were reported as cleared from most of the town, but still holding out in an eastern suburb along the main highway to the capital. Despite rebels securing the main square, the city centre was hit by rockets or mortars, demonstrating the threat still posed by forces loyal to the regime who have available to them both modern tanks and missile launchers. Libya Middle East Africa Muammar Gaddafi Peter Beaumont Luke Harding guardian.co.uk
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A 17-year-old Turkish waiter who wanted to marry victim’s daughter has confessed to the murder of the two women The family of a Northern Irish woman stabbed to death with her best friend in Turkey are travelling to the country to comfort her teenage daughter. Marion Elizabeth Graham and Kathy Dinsmore, both aged 53, from Newry, County Down, were found murdered in woods near the port city of Izmir on Thursday. A 17-year-old Turkish waiter has confessed to the murder of the two women following a row with Graham after she refused his proposal to marry her 15-year-old daughter Shannon. Graham’s son, and her ex-partner Raymond McGuinness, the father of Shannon, has flown to Turkey to bring the girl home, with her mother’s body and that of her friend. The two women were found after Graham’s daughter reported that she had failed to turn up for a planned boat trip off the resort of Kusadasi. They suffered multiple stab wounds, including having their throats cut. McGuinness said he had never been fully in favour of the relationship since the two teenagers began going out last summer. “There was always something that was not quite right,” he said. The waiter, known to the family as Alex, is believed to have worked in a Kusadasi restaurant where both the Graham and Dinsmore families often ate during their holidays. After a police interrogation he is alleged to have told detectives that he lured the two women into the area promising them a tour of Izmir. Local reports said the teenager claimed he decided to kill the women because Graham was standing in the way of his marriage to her daughter. Earlier he had claimed that en route to taking the women to a local shopping centre his car had been blocked on a road by another vehicle and the three of them had been kidnapped. He told police that the next thing he could remember was waking up near his house. McGuinness said: “He told Shannon that he had tried to stop the kidnappers and he had a cut on his hand and that’s how he suffered it.” It is understood the waiter had been involved in a separate row with Shannon’s mother last week. Graham’s sister, Monica Higgins, said the family was devastated by the double murder. “It’s absolutely devastating. We’ve just found out. My mother’s in the car crying her eyes out,” she said. “We’re trying to work with the Irish department of foreign affairs to find out what exactly happened to her.” In a statement, members of the Dinsmore also family spoke of their sorrow. “John and George Dinsmore are devastated by the tragic death of their beloved sister Kathy Dinsmore while on holiday in Turkey,” it said. “The Dinsmore family are grateful for the many condolences that they have received and appeal for privacy during this difficult time.” Northern Ireland Turkey Europe Ireland Crime guardian.co.uk
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Plane belonging to Royal Air Force’s aerobatics display team plunged to the ground in Dorset after a demonstration A Red Arrows jet has crashed in Dorset following an aerobatics display, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed. The plane belonging to one of the Royal Air Force’s aerobatics display team plunged to the ground near Bournemouth Airport in Dorset after a demonstration at the town’s air festival. An MoD spokesman said: “We can confirm that we are aware of an incident involving one of the Red Arrows and we are investigating.” The Bournemouth Air Festival said events were continuing as scheduled. The Red Arrows are famous for their airborne stunts, multicoloured vapour trails, dramatic flypasts and trademark diamond formation. Formed in 1965, the arrows have flown more than 4,000 displays in 53 countries. Their red single-engine jet trainers are a familiar sight at air shows and military events. Military David Batty guardian.co.uk
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• Hammer F5 or click on auto-refresh for all the latest action • Ping your emails towards scott.murray@guardian.co.uk • Keep up to date with our Live Scores service • Please sign the e-petition demanding full disclosure of all government documents relating to the Hillsborough disaster 17 min: The news is that Koscielny’s back has gone into spasm. 15 min: Koscielny is being helped off the pitch. This is terrible to see. It’s all he can do to hobble. He’s in a whole world of pain. The 18-year-old Ignasi Miquel comes on for his debut. 14 min: This looks bad for Arsenal: Koscielny is trotting up the pitch with the ball at his feet and he suddenly pulls up, holding the small of his back. As he drops to his knees, he pounds the turf with his fist, then shakes his head. I’m not sure he’ll be able to continue. He looks in a lot of pain. 12 min: Arsenal are clearly up for this. Walcott and Arshavin both receive a lecture from the referee for their up-and-at-’em style. 10 min: Arsenal are looking really dangerous. Walcott tears down the right and sends a lovely low ball across the front of the six-yard box. Arshavin can’t quite get there, though. Not sure where Van Persie was. Maybe he was close at hand too, so let’s not jump to conclusions. 8 min: The youngster Frimpong – 19, he is – is booked for squaring up to Henderson over a throw-in. He’s got the proper heat on! He’s got the Arsenal genes, this lad, for sure. 7 min: This is a rare old start, with most of the attacking effort coming from the home side. Yet another corner for Arsenal, down the left, Vermaelen winning a header at the far post but only glancing it well wide right. 6 min: Arsenal stream up the other end and win a corner down the right. The ball falls to Arshavin, free on the penalty spot, who shanks a dreadful effort away at 90 degrees. Liverpool clear. There was a half-arsed shout for a penalty as Kelly and Ramsey bustled at the near post, but nobody’s heart was really in it. 5 min: A low ball into the Arsenal box from the right by Downing. Kuyt should get hold of it with a view to shooting, or help it on, or something, but he lets a dangerous ball roll under his feet and through to Szczesny, who snaffles. 4 min: A minute or so’s worth of pressure from Arsenal, including a couple of pretty triangles down the inside-left channel involving Nasri, and one corner on the left that comes to nothing. 2 min: Liverpool’s new expansive style: Adam launches a free kick into the Arsenal area towards the head of Carroll. Hmm. “Suarez on the bench? Henderson on the pitch? And people are talking about Wenger being the one who has gone crazy?” splutters Luke Stevenson. And we’re off. Arsenal set the ball rolling. There’s some atmosphere at the Emirates. Walcott goes trundling after a long ball down the right, but Jose Enrique gets his body in the way and earns the visitors a free kick. A nice understated start to the match, and no wonder: these poor sods had to play 111 minutes last time round. The teams are out! Arsenal are sporting their traditional red and white shirts, with their new faux-traditional crest with surrounding shrubbery. Liverpool are in their all-black away strip. “Given Wenger’s record, surely the only surprise is that he hasn’t made Nasri captain,” quips the tinder-dry Chris Sturrock. In the meantime: If you’ve not signed the petition yet demanding full disclosure of all government documents relating to 1989 Hillsborough disaster – something Government flunkies are outrageously opposing – please take a minute to do so. Whoever you support. Kick off: 12.45pm. Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire). Liverpool, with Luis Suarez on the bench?! Reina, Kelly, Carragher, Agger, Jose Enrique, Lucas, Henderson, Adam, Downing, Kuyt, Carroll. Subs: Doni, Meireles, Suarez, Maxi, Spearing, Skrtel, Flanagan. Arsenal, and please put your hands together, ladies and gentlemen, for Mr Samir Nasri! Szczesny, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Jenkinson, Sagna, Frimpong, Ramsey, Nasri, Arshavin, Walcott, van Persie. Subs: Fabianski, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Chamakh, Miyaichi, Lansbury, Miquel, Bendtner. The last time Kenny Dalglish set about totally rebuilding a Liverpool side, his new charges announced themselves at the Arsenal. On the opening day of the 1987 season, a beautiful late summer’s day at Highbury, in front of the biggest league attendance for nearly three years – a whopping 54,703, kids – Dalglish’s big-name summer signings John Barnes and Peter Beardsley combined to set up the almost-box-fresh John Aldridge on nine minutes. Paul Davis levelled the scores on 17, before Steve Nicol settled an end-to-end game with a header from outside the box . The parallels with today aren’t exact – it’s not the opening day, this isn’t Highbury, and nobody’s expecting the title to end up at Anfield this season – but just like then, this is an unfamiliar Liverpool side that piques the interest. And just like back in those early George Graham days – a young Tony Adams at one end, Arsenal new boy Alan Smith at the other – the modern post-Cesc Gunners are in transition too. So here’s hoping for another belter between two slightly uncertain teams, whichever way it goes. Premier League Premier League 2011-12 Arsenal Liverpool Scott Murray guardian.co.uk
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• More than 600,000 people applied for university this year • Ucas website received 644 hits per second on Thursday Around 200,000 people will miss out on places at UK universities this year, the highest number on record. The number of students filling vacancies through clearing has reached 13,000, with about 62,000 university places remaining, said the admissions body Ucas. So far 419,000 students have already been accepted with Ucas expecting this figure to rise to around 480,000. A record 682,514 people applied for university places this year with just over 192,000 still able to apply through clearing, Ucas figures show. Mary Curnock Cook, head of Ucas, said the Ucas website received 644 hits per second on Thursday. She told BBC News that 65,000 people who have already applied for places are still awaiting decisions from universities, while 62,000 places remain. “The total number of applicants was up by about 1% this year, so it is more than ever before,” she said. Clearing matches students who did not get the grades they needed, or who turned down offers or received none, to courses with vacancies. “The number in clearing is a self-balancing figure so as that goes down that is a good thing because it means that more people have been placed through the main scheme in choices they have been considering for a number of months,” said Curnock Cook. A-Level results were published on Thursday and some students will now drop out and not enter clearing. The overall A*-E A-level pass rate rose to a record 97.8%. More than 250,000 students received their results on Thursday. Universities minister David Willetts said: “There will be more students at university this autumn than ever before and we are repeating the 10,000 extra places this year. “More than 338,000 applicants achieved the grades they needed and are now off to university. For those who did not get the results they had hoped for, there are nearly 30,000 courses with vacancies available in clearing.” Higher education Clearing Students A-levels Schools David Batty guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …• More than 600,000 people applied for university this year • Ucas website received 644 hits per second on Thursday Around 200,000 people will miss out on places at UK universities this year, the highest number on record. The number of students filling vacancies through clearing has reached 13,000, with about 62,000 university places remaining, said the admissions body Ucas. So far 419,000 students have already been accepted with Ucas expecting this figure to rise to around 480,000. A record 682,514 people applied for university places this year with just over 192,000 still able to apply through clearing, Ucas figures show. Mary Curnock Cook, head of Ucas, said the Ucas website received 644 hits per second on Thursday. She told BBC News that 65,000 people who have already applied for places are still awaiting decisions from universities, while 62,000 places remain. “The total number of applicants was up by about 1% this year, so it is more than ever before,” she said. Clearing matches students who did not get the grades they needed, or who turned down offers or received none, to courses with vacancies. “The number in clearing is a self-balancing figure so as that goes down that is a good thing because it means that more people have been placed through the main scheme in choices they have been considering for a number of months,” said Curnock Cook. A-Level results were published on Thursday and some students will now drop out and not enter clearing. The overall A*-E A-level pass rate rose to a record 97.8%. More than 250,000 students received their results on Thursday. Universities minister David Willetts said: “There will be more students at university this autumn than ever before and we are repeating the 10,000 extra places this year. “More than 338,000 applicants achieved the grades they needed and are now off to university. For those who did not get the results they had hoped for, there are nearly 30,000 courses with vacancies available in clearing.” Higher education Clearing Students A-levels Schools David Batty guardian.co.uk
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Protest at the deaths of five officers reportedly shot by Israeli forces chasing down Palestinian militants after Eilat attack Egypt says it will recall its ambassador to Israel in protest at the deaths of five police officers, reportedly shot by Israeli forces. Cairo said it held Israel “politically and legally responsible” for the incident on Thursday, and demanded an investigation and an apology. Israel has pledged to investigate the deaths, which Egyptian officials say happened during a shoot out between Israeli forces and suspected Palestinian militants. The violence began on Thursday when gunmen attacked buses near the Israeli Red Sea resort of Eilat, killing eight people. Egyptian officials say Israeli forces chased the suspected militants across the border, and a number of people were killed – including the police officers. The decision to withdraw Yasser Reda was announced as thousands of protesters gathered outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo for a second day, demanding the expulsion of the Israeli envoy. In a statement, the Egyptian cabinet said: “The Egyptian ambassador to Israel will be withdrawn until we are notified about the results of an investigation by the Israeli authorities.” It added that Egypt would send reinforcements to protect its borders and “to respond to any Israeli military activity at the Egyptian borders”. It is the first time in a decade that Egypt has withdrawn its ambassador. Egypt’s interim government accused Israel of violating their 1979 peace treaty, which is already being tested by the fall of Hosni Mubarak. Mohammed Adel, a leader of the protests that toppled Mubarak, welcomed the cabinet decision, saying, “It proves to all that the Egyptian revolution is capable of imposing its rules on the Israeli enemy.” Amr Moussa, a former Arab League chief and now an Egyptian presidential hopeful, said: “Israel and any other [country] must understand that the day our sons get killed without a strong and an appropriate response, is gone and will not come back.” Israeli officials insisted the peace treaty was “stable” despite the developments. “No one had any intention to harm Egyptian security personnel,” Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli defence ministry official who works closely with Egypt, told Israel Radio. “The question is what happened in the field and that is what is being investigated.” The cross-border attack has raised concerns about the increasingly lawless Sinai peninsula, which borders both Israel and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Israel says Gaza militants armed with guns, explosives, mortars and an anti-tank missile, killed eight Israelis in a roadside ambush on Thursday after infiltrating Israel through Sinai. Israeli air strikes on Gaza on Friday killed at least 12 Palestinians. More than a dozen rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel, wounding nine Israelis in the south of the country. Israel has offered conflicting accounts about how the Egyptians were killed and the Israeli military has promised an investigation. An Israeli military officer initially said a suicide bomber, not Israeli soldiers, killed the Egyptian security forces. Meanwhile Israeli media reported that some of the sniper fire directed at the Israeli motorists on Thursday came from near Egyptian army posts and speculated that the Egyptian troops were killed in the crossfire. Egypt Israel Middle East Africa Palestinian territories Gaza guardian.co.uk
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Historian says he wasn’t condemning black culture, adding that black educationalists defended his comments The historian David Starkey has defended comments he made last week on BBC’s Newsnight – when he appeared to blame the recent riots in English cities on a black “gangsta” culture – by claiming that “the subject of race has become unmentionable, by whites at any rate”. In an article in the Daily Telegraph , he describes the public reaction to his remarks as “hysterical”, and says that a breach in what he calls the taboo on discussing race is “punished by ostracism and worse … the witch finders already have their sights on me”. The article comes after a furore provoked by comments made by him during a discussion on BBC’s Newsnight, during which he said that “the whites have become black”. In his Telegraph article Starkey writes: “But how, then, to explain the black educationalists Tony Sewell and Katherine Birbalsingh defending the substance of my comments on ‘gangsta’ culture, as well as Tony Parsons, who wrote in the Labour-supporting Daily Mirror that, ‘without the gang culture of black London, none of the riots would have happened – including the riots in other cities like Manchester and Birmingham where most of rioters were white’.” Admitting that friends agreed his greatest error was mentioning the politician Enoch Powell , whose 1968 rivers of blood speech attacked immigration , Starkey added that part of the legacy of the reaction to Powell had been “an enforced silence on the matter of race”. Starkey defends comments he made on Newsnight that white “chavs” have “become black”, by arguing that discussion of the successes or failures of integration in Britain is central to any examination of the state of the nation today. Saying that he was misconstrued as condemning all black culture, the historian writes: “I was trying to point out the very different patterns of integration at the top and bottom of the social scale.” David Starkey Race issues UK riots London Daily Telegraph Equality National newspapers Newspapers Hannah Godfrey guardian.co.uk
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